Bible Strands
Ephesians 5:2
and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the church at Ephesus, calling them to imitate God as beloved children (5:1) and immediately forbidding sexual immorality and greed (5:3); this verse is the positive standard that frames both.
The words — περιπατεῖτε (peripateite), "do walk," is a present imperative: the command is not a single act of love but a sustained, habitual mode of conduct, the way one walks day after day.
The thread — The "as Christ loved us" pattern echoes John 13:34 ("As I have loved you, so you also must love one another") and is undergirded by the union with Christ described in Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:14 names love the bond that holds all virtues together.
Why it lands — The verse asks the reader to match their love to a specific act: Christ giving himself up as a sacrifice. It is a demand for costly, directed self-giving, not a general sentiment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Cross-references
- John 13:34 A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.
- Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
- Colossians 3:14 And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity.
- 2 Corinthians 2:15 For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
- Matthew 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
- 1 Corinthians 16:14 Do everything in love.
- Titus 2:14 He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
- 1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
- 2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
- Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.